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"Pro li she would have the chance to live up to her vow

With that, Lord Akeldama was carried from the room The door was closed and bolted behind hihts for company, was left alone in the dark She was particularly annoyed with herself; she hadeverywhere

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A to do but wiggle her hands and feet to keep up blood circulation within the tight confines of the e, siotten, for no one came to check up on her, nor, indeed, showed any interest at all in her physical condition She was quite uncomfortable, for corsets, bustles, and all other accoutrements of a lady’s appropriate dress were not conducive to lying, bound, on a hard floor She shifted, sighed, and stared up at the ceiling, trying to think about anything but Lord Maccon, her current predicament, or Lord Akelda but reflect on the coht of her mama’s most recent embroidery project This, in itself, was a worse torture than any her captors could devise

Eventually, she was saved from her own masochistic meditations by the sound of two voices in the corridor outside her cell Both seeuely fah proximity for Alexia to overhear the particulars, bore a distinct seuided e that in order to eliminate the supernatural threat, we must first understand it Professor Sneezewort’s most hile research has shown Ah, in this cell, we have another rove va for exsanguination

Unfortunately, his origin and original hive association are unknown This is the sad result of having to rely so heavily on rove speciland, members of a hive tend to be tooa very difficult ti this one to speak He was transported over froht in the head since There appear to be some serious physical and mental repercussions when one removes a vampire from his immediate localized area: tremulations, disorientation, dementia, and the like We have not determined the exact mathematical nature of the distance, whether bodies of water are key factors, and so forth, but it proer,work utilizing this particular speci to convince us totrip across the Channel into the farther reaches of Eastern Europe I believe he wants Russian speci inconspicuous at the moment I am certain you understand And, of course, there is the cost to consider"

A second male voice answered in a flattish accent, "This is quite fascinating I had heard of the territorial aspect of vaical repercussions I would be quite interested to read the research once it is published What little gem do you hold in the last cell?"

"Ah, well, it did house Akeldama, one of the oldest va was quite the coup But he is already on the exsanguination table, so we have our uest in residence for the ued

Miss Tarabotti was still unable to determine why this voice seemed so very fa lady ofthe course of our investigations After one too ht her in" The second voice said, shocked, "You have imprisoned a lady?"

"Unfortunately, she has ly necessary It is the end result of her ownQuite a puzzle she is too" The firstequal parts annoyed and enthralled He continued "Would you be interested in ht You are, after all, approaching the supernatural problem from an entirely unique perspective, and ould value your input"

The second hted to offer my assistance How kind of you to ask"

Miss Tarabotti frowned in ever increasing frustration at her terribly inconvenient inability to place theabout his accent What was it? Fortunately (or more accurately unfortunately), she did not have to live in confusionopen

Miss Tarabotti blinked and inadvertently coiled away froasped "Why, Miss Tarabotti!"

Miss Tarabotti, eyes watering, squinted at the two backlit figures Eventually, her eyes adjusted to the unsteady light of the oil laant position on the floor She was only racefully prone and le, which enabled her to see her visitors with greater clarity

One proved to be the shadowed man, and for the first time in their unsavory acquaintance, his face was not actually in couide Seeing his countenance at last was an unsatisfactory experience Alexia had hoped for so singular, co muttonchops, excessive jowls, and watery blue eyes She had expected at least soreat and sinister nely ordinary

The other man was plumpish, bespectacled, and in possession of a hairline midretreat His was a countenance Alexia was quite faall," she said Even when one was horizontally prone, there was no call for rudeness "How nice to see you again"

The young scientist, with a cry of profound surprise, came instantly over to kneel solicitously next to her He helped her gently into a sitting position, apologizing profusely for having to manhandle her person

Miss Tarabotti did not ht, she felt considerably all had no intentional hand in her abduction That would have grieved her sorely, for she liked the young man and did not wish to think ill of hienuine She ht, even be able to turn his presence to her advantage